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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29815281">Once Again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SioDymph/pseuds/SioDymph'>SioDymph</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DR. SEUSS - Works, Green Eggs and Ham (Cartoon), Green Eggs and Ham - Dr. Seuss, The Lorax (2012), The Lorax - Dr. Seuss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossover, Gen, Random &amp; Short</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:14:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,039</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29815281</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SioDymph/pseuds/SioDymph</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Once-ler had thought that his story was done,<br/>But a strange and new tale had only begun…</p><p>After reconciling, the Lorax has a special job for his old friend.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Once Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Today is Dr. Seuss’s Birthday and I kinda got inspired (Happy 117th!)<br/>Idk if I’ll continue, but I at least wanted to share this idea with the rest of the class lol<br/>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Once-ler didn’t know when he actually let go of his long-gone friend, but eventually he felt the odd little creature pull away from him.</p><p>“I thought I’d never seen you again!” The Once-ler couldn’t help but say. He still couldn’t believe it. “You’re really here, right?”</p><p>“As real as it gets kid.” The Lorax said dryly. But there was no animosity to his voice.</p><p>Together, the pair looked across what once was acres upon acres of Truffula Forest. The ground was dry and barren, there were only a few patches of grackle grass. The rivers were still dark with sludge. But the sky, the Once-ler could finally see the sky again. A bright, beautiful, blue sky.</p><p>And the truffulas.</p><p>At long last, there were finally truffula saplings beginning to sprout.</p><p> There was still much more work to be done. But at long, last, Thneedville was finally taking a step towards a better future.</p><p>“You did good.” The Lorax replied. Nodding towards the fields of little orange and pink saplings sprouting out of the dirt. “You did real good here.”</p><p>“I also did a lot of bad.” The Once-ler couldn’t help but sigh.</p><p>“That you did.” The Lorax replied. “I ain’t gonna sugarcoat it. You made some serious mistakes in the past. And it hurt a lot of folks…”</p><p>The Once-ler shrunk in on himself.</p><p>But the Lorax continued.</p><p>“But that ain’t where your story ended. You spent years living out here in your little wasteland. You never hid from what you did. You never abandoned it. And you never abandoned that little seed of yours either.”</p><p>The Once-ler nodded. His pocket still felt empty without his precious little truffula seed. “I held onto it for years…”</p><p>“And I know exactly why.” The Lorax explained. “You never gave up hope. No matter how bad it got, there was some part of you that knew there was still a chance. That there’d be a way make things right.”</p><p>“I had to.” The Once-ler said. “I… After I found the seed, I knew I had to protect it. It was my last chance to fix things. But I had to wait for things to be safer.”</p><p>“You messed up, but you worked hard to do some good too.” The Lorax replied. “And if you ask me, you’ve helped set a lot of good things in motion. You must have cared an awful lot.”</p><p>The Once-ler couldn’t help but agree with his friend.</p><p>For a while the pair stood out in the fields in an amiable silence.</p><p>They simply watched the world around them. Slowly, the Truffula forests were coming back to life.</p><p>“So…” The Lorax began, cutting through the quiet. “What’s next? What exciting, new steps are in store for our World-Famous beanpole?”</p><p>The Once-ler was about to reply. But no answer came to mind. And the Once-ler quickly realized he didn’t have a clue what he’d do next.</p><p>“I’m an old beanpole now.” The Once-ler tried to say. “I’ll probably just tend to the saplings, help them all grow. It’s not like I can do much else.”</p><p>The Lorax got a look on his face, on the Once-ler recognized immediately. It was the sort of look he’d get right before he got into mischief. “Huh. If you ask me, that doesn’t sound too exciting.”</p><p>“No, it probably won’t be.” The Once-ler replied.</p><p>“Well, what if I told you about a potential offer?”</p><p>The Once-ler turned to his old friend in confusion. “What kind of offer?”</p><p>“A <em>job</em> offer.”</p><p>“… What kind of job?”</p><p>The Lorax smirked. “The kind that can only be offered.”</p><p>The Once-ler rolled his eyes, huffing, “So descriptive. So helpful.”</p><p>“Ok, ok I can’t say much, but I can say this: You’ve helped here a lot, making sure things can finally grow. But what if I told you that I also know some <em>people</em> who need to grow too?”</p><p>“And you’re not talking about myself?”</p><p>“Don’t sell yourself short kid, you’ve grown plenty.” The Lorax said. “And cause of that you got a special perspective. One I’m betting could help a lot of folks who use to be like you.”</p><p>The Once-ler looked down at his friend carefully. “You really think so?”</p><p>“I do.” The Lorax replied. “So, what’ll it be? You in or you out?”</p><p>The Once-ler thought for a moment.</p><p>Part of him wanted to stay here with his truffulas. He still felt like it was his duty to help raise these tree saplings. But there was another part of him that wanted to help with the Lorax, to prove to his friend that’d he really had changed his ways for good. And there was also this secret-little third part of himself that could help but perk up at the idea of a new adventure. It’d been decades since he left the truffula forest, let alone leave his own house…</p><p>The Once-ler finally relented. “Ok. You got me. I’m in.”</p><p>“Alright!” The Lorax cheered before grabbing the Once-ler’s thneed scarf and yanking the old man down a dirt path. “We better get going! We don’t have a moment to lose!”</p><p>The Once-ler struggled to keep up, all the while fighting against the Lorax. “Wait! Right now? Like <em>right now</em> right now!?”</p><p>“Yes! <em>Right now</em>!” The Lorax said before grumbling. “What part of <em>not a moment to lose</em> did ya not get?”</p><p>“Can I at least pack my bags?” The Once-ler asked, glancing back one last time at his old house.</p><p>“Nope! We gotta get a move on, Beany! Can’t afford to be late!”</p><p>With no other choice, the Once-ler let himself be dragged down the path. Who knew what sort of strange hijinks the Lorax was about to drag him into? But he had willingly agreed to this. The Once-ler hoped he didn’t come to regret this decision.</p><p>All at ocne though, the pair came to a screeching halt when the Lorax spotted what he was looking for.</p><p>“There it is! Right on time!”</p><p>Dropping the Once-ler’s scarf, the Lorax ran ahead.</p><p>The Once-ler looked to where the Lorax was excitedly running.</p><p>Only to see a giant, red crate.</p><p>One he’d never seen before. Not in his truffula forest. Not anywhere.</p><p>“What’s that?” The Once-ler asked.</p><p>The Lorax turned back to his friend. “What’s it look like? It’s a shipping crate!”</p><p>“Yes. I can see that.” The Once-ler huffed. “But what is it doing here?”</p><p>“This is a special box. It can do all sorts of weird stuff. But most importantly, it transports things.” The Lorax explained. “And today, right now, it’s gonna transport us!”</p><p>“Where to?”</p><p>“Where we’re supposed to be heading.” The Lorax replied. He drummed his hands across the crate’s lid. “You’re not getting cold feet or something? Are you?”</p><p>“No!” The Once-ler said, far too quickly. “I just feel kinda skeptical here. You won’t say what’s going on or where we’re going. What are we ever doing here!?”</p><p>“Ok, I know you’re freaking out kid,” The Lorax explained. “With this sorta work, it’s hard to explain. It’s easier to just go for it. See it all for yourself. But you gotta trust me, ok? You’re gonna be fine. And I’ll be with you every step of the way.”</p><p>“You promise?”</p><p>“Promise.”</p><p>With that, the Lorax lifted up the lid.</p><p>Inside, the crate appeared pitch black. And no matter how hard the Once-ler stared he couldn’t see the bottom of the box. It seemed to stretch on forever.</p><p>“You ready kid?” The Lorax asked.</p><p>In all honesty the Once-ler had no idea what he was doing. This morning he’d been content to spend the rest of his life tending to his truffula saplings. Watching them grow. Now here he was, working alongside his old friend, moments away from leaving everything behind. Was he ready?</p><p>“No.” The Once-ler said honestly. “But let’s go anyways.”</p><p>Then, before he could scare himself out of it, the Once-ler and the Lorax dove into the crate.</p><p>The crate’s red lid slammed shut and the box shrunk down,</p><p>smaller,</p><p>smaller,</p><p>and smaller still,</p><p>until it ceased to exist all together.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>When the Once-ler came to, he was lying on something cold and hard. It was dark out. But not dark like the endless void of that crate. More like the darkness once saw at night. In fact, the Once-ler spotted some the moon, hiding behind some clouds. Its soft light illuminated things. It shined down on a long row of cages and fences. Were they in a zoo?</p><p>As a matter of fact. He himself was trapped in a cage.</p><p>He was trapped in a cage with some strange fuzzy creature that had a beak. Luckily for now it appeared to be rest. It was curled tightly in a ball that slowly rose and fell in a deep sleep.</p><p>“What in the-” The Once-ler immediately paused, blood going cold. His voice sounded so strange and… young.</p><p>Ripping off his gloves, the Once-ler was shocked to see his hands. The hands of a 20-something old. Not a feeble old man.</p><p>He heard the Lorax call out somewhere outside the cage. “Hey, don’t freak out!”</p><p>The Once-ler snapped his head around to see his friend hiding in some nearby bushes.</p><p>“What the H- E- Double Hockey Sticks!” The Once-ler hissed. “Why am I locked up with this bird-thing? And why am I a kid again!?”</p><p>“Beats me. My guess is they wanted you to appeal to the youth. So they made you all young and dopey-looking again.” The Lorax replied. “Now look alive kid! Here comes your project now!”</p><p>Sailing through the sky, a figure in black surveyed the whole zoo. With a few impressive flips and turns, the spy hit the ground with perfect, 5-star landing.</p><p>Then they began making their way towards the Once-ler’s cage.</p><p>However, even with all their sneaking, they still somehow managed the wake the sleeping beast.</p><p>It made a few grunts and shakes.</p><p>“Shhhh.” The spy tried to say. “Easy, easy now.”</p><p>But the beast was wide awake now. It stretched out its neck and long limbs, until that tiny ball of fluff now towered over the spy.</p><p>“Oh wow!”</p><p>But the spy wasn’t afraid. If anything it seemed more impressed. And using a practiced technique, they managed to pacify the beast. So much so the spy was able to tuck them away into an unassuming briefcase.</p><p>“Perfect as always, Sam-I-Am!” The spy, Sam, said. Clearly pleased with himself. “Snerz will flip his wig once he sees what you got this time!”</p><p>The Once-ler wasn’t sure what to do. When he heard the bushes rustle, he turned and saw the Lorax glaring back at him.</p><p><em>“</em>What are you doing?” The Lorax hissed.</p><p>“I have no idea!” The Once-ler whisper-screamed back.</p><p>“What was that!” The spy called out. He took a step closer towards the Once-ler, before perking up. “Oh man! Is that another Chickeraffe I see? I bet Snerz would pay double the asking-price for two!”</p><p>All at once, the Once-ler pieced together what was going on. This spy was trying to <em>steal </em>this creature. He was trying to steal it and sell it off to some weird private collector.</p><p>He should probably stop this.</p><p>Stepping into the light, the Once-ler revelaed himself.</p><p>“WOAH! You’re no Chickeraffe! I- I don’t know what you are!” Sam stared back at the man, flabbergasted “What- Excuse me! I mean, Who are you?”</p><p>“Who am I?” The Once-ler began. “Who am I?”</p><p>
  <em>“For I am the Once-ler.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Once-Was and Once-Been.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And I fend for the ones that one ought to defend.”</em>
</p><p>Sam frowned down at his suitcase where he'd hid the creature. “And who is it, that you ought to defend?”</p><p>The Once-ler gave Sam a very pointed look.</p><p>“What exactly do you plan on doing with that Chickeraffe, Sam?”</p><p>Sam looked towards the Once-ler sheepishly. “I definitely wasn’t about the steal this fella away in the dead of night and sell him to the highest bidder?”</p><p>The Once-ler scoffed. “Yeah. For some reason I kinda doubt that.”</p><p> </p><p>He still had no idea what was going on, or what he was doing. But one thing was for certain. The Once-ler certainly had his work cut out for him…</p>
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